Assorted Human Male Adventurers 01

As a follow up to my previous post where I showcased four human female adventures, this time I'm taking a closer look at four human male adventurers, all of whom have a connection in some way to Kimberley Wells, the captain of The Ace of Spades, and thus, who will most certainly put in an appearance at some point in my ongoing campaign. Indeed, if all goes well, the first two characters shown here will be meeting Kimberley in my next scenario, in which they take part in a high stakes gambling tournament. Yes, I am working on it, and it is written, but I'm waiting for some 3D furniture items that my brother is printing for me before I'm ready to run it.

At the far left is Emerich Rach, a suave human smuggler who loves to gamble. A native of Hyperion, he has crossed paths with Kimberley a few times in the past, usually at a casino, due to them both being keen gamblers. In terms of gambling ability they are well-matched. Emerich views Kimberley as a friendly rival and he loves to flirt with her, even when she was with her now dead fiancé, Buck Hanson. He often joked that Kimberley would be better off with him. He is armed with a high quality Phaser Pistol and his figure was sculpted by me in the late 1990's.
Next in line is Karl Bergman, a freelance mercenary and personal bodyguard of Emerich. Just like Kimberley, Emerich has had a few run-ins with the Organisation, a galaxy-wide criminal empire, and so Karl fills a similar role to that of Celeste with Kimberley. Karl is every inch the professional, with a long and distinguished military career before he moved into the private sector. His hobby is he enjoys playing ice hockey. He is armed with a Trans Sun FC33 Firestorm Antimatter Rifle, a 10mm Slugger Pistol and a high quality Short Sword and he wears Vector AP Resistant Body Armour Mk.1 (SOAK:5) with Helmet. His figure was also sculpted by me in the late 1990's.

If Emerich and Karl can be considered allies of Kimberley and her crew, then these next two characters definitely fall into the category of enemies. At the far right is Kimberley's elder brother, Jonathan Kenneth Wells, and next to him is his ranch foreman, Lenny Dyson. Lenny has spent most of his life on Arcturus 6 in the Terran starsector. He started life as a farmhand on The Wells' ranch, working for the elder James Wells. His loyalty and work ethic were duly noted and he has risen through the ranks to his current position as Jonathan's right hand man. He likes to get his hands dirty and much prefers the outdoors to life in an office or similar. He is armed with a 10mm Slugger Rifle and a Laser Pistol. His figure is in old Grenadier Future Wars sculpt, now available from Moonraker Miniatures as 0077 Male Rebel with Assault Rifle for only £1.75.
Jonathan Kenneth Wells is the eldest of two children of James and Marcia Wells, born on Arcturus 6. James owns a large Moohk cattle ranch, and is one of the top ten wealthiest men on Arcturus. Jonathan is 10 years older than his sister, Kimberley Jane. He never got on well with Kimberley and the two grew even further apart when their mother, Marcia, was killed in a riding accident when Jonathan was 15 years old. Jonathan was always his father's favourite child, whilst Marcia doted on Kimberley, so she felt her death far greater than Jonathan did. That same year, Jonathan enrolled at university to study accounting and business management, as James wanted him to eventually take over his company. Upon graduating (without Honours), he joined a local athletics club, having developed a love for most sports at school and university. James allowed this career move to last for three years before employing his son as a young executive in his company. For two years, he ensured that Jonathan was introduced to the movers and shakers amongst the high society of Arcturus 6. This was long enough for him to build up a list of useful contacts and to appreciate the mind set of the ruling elite. At the age of 24, Jonathan was offered a seat on the board of directors of the Wells Moohk Produce Company. Over the next 13 years, Jonathan helped to expand the company and saw its profits grow as he opened up new trade deals on many planets. James was delighted at how well Jonathan ran his company, and as the years passed, he took less and less of an active role in its management, knowing that it was in safe hands with Jonathan. Soon, James will hand over total control of the company to his son, but for now, he is still in overall charge. Jonathan is patient and unflinchingly loyal to James. He knows his time will come. Life would be perfect if it was not for his annoying little sister, who, in his eyes, has brought disgrace upon the family name with her wild ways.
Jonathan is not generally well liked and he is seen by many as abrasive, greedy and stubborn. He works hard and plays hard but he has yet to find a woman he truly loves. He is armed with a high quality Blaster Pistol. His figure was produced by Citadel Miniatures for their original Rogue Trader range in the 1980's.

Planetary Police Force 01

In this post I'm showcasing some of my 28mm scale figures that I'm using as Planetary Police Force personnel. These are your basic cops found on most planets that have law enforcement forces. Note that they only have jurisdiction on their planet. Starports are outside of their jurisdiction and they are covered by the Interplanetary Police Agency (IPA) who also patrol the space lanes.

At the far left is Police Corporal Sage Clark. She is a very hard-line cop who never gives anyone the benefit of doubt. She is armed with a Stun Baton and wears a GE33 Stalker Impact Suit, which becomes rigid upon impact. It provides 2 SOAK and 5 SOAK against Blunt attacks. In addition she wears a Blast Shield Helmet. This figure was produced by Citadel Miniatures for when they had the licence for the Paranoia RPG.

In the centre is Lieutenant Lysander Zebulon Mortimer, the leader of this precinct. He is very protective of those under his command and will back them to the hilt. He is also armed with a Stun Baton and wears the same armour as Sage Clark. His figure is one of the Spacelords 3720 Ship's Crew set of six figures, which are sold by Moonraker Miniatures at £10.50 for the set of six.
At the far left is Sergeant Dwayne Dixon. He is deeply distrustful of all politicians. He is armed and armoured the same as Clark and Mortimer. His figure is another one of the Spacelords Ship's Crew mentioned above.

These next four figures are all Constables and all were part of the Citadel Miniatures Paranoia range of figures. At the far left is Volan Litvak, who is suspicious of all non-humans. He is armed with a 10mm Slugger Pistol and wears Riot Armour, which is designed to allow movement while offering maximum protection. It includes padding, blast vest, Kevlar pads on the arms, legs, and knees, and typically, a blast helmet. It provides 7 SOAK.
Next to him is Braden Quinn who is overly fond of junk food. He is the same figure as Litvak but I repositioned his left arm for a very simple conversion. I removed his index finger and re-sculpted it so it was not pointing.

Second from the right is Werner Spanhauer, who is a mild risk taker. He is armed with a 10mm Slugger Rifle and wears Riot Armour. This is also the same figure as Litvak but is more heavily converted than Quinn. I bent his left arm slightly. I remodelled his lower right arm and added his Slugger Rifle.
Finally is young Billy McCluskey, who is full of youthful enthusiasm and is very energetic. He is also armed with a 10mm Slugger Rifle and wears Riot Armour. When I ran my The Ace of Spades Campaign using the GURPS Space rules in the 1990's Billy encountered the crew when they were being hunted by a notorious bounty hunter. The first time that Billy met Kimberley resulted in a most unexpected reaction. He fell head over heels in love with her. He became so lovestruck that he set out to seduce Kimberley. They went out on a date and it went so well that Kimberley hired Billy as a crew member. From starting out as a minor NPC, Billy evolved into a real asset to The Ace of Spades crew. It's funny how things turn out! I could never have predicted that outcome.

Assorted Aliens 01

My The Ace of Spades Campaign is filled with many alien races. I have combined races from N.E.W., GURPS Space and Space Opera. But the universe is a vast place and there a lots of other aliens not covered in the books that go to populate the worlds of my campaign setting. Here I present five unique aliens produced by Moonraker Miniatures from their Future Skirmish Aliens range. Note that these were originally sold by EM4 Miniatures as a boxed set of fully painted figures, and it is these that I am showing here. All I did to them was base them, add texture to the bases then paint the bases. The figures sold by Moonraker Miniatures come unpainted, but otherwise are identical to mine.

I have no idea what their races or names are so I'll resort to using the descriptions given to them on the Moonraker Miniatures webstore. From left to right are 0467 Feeder, 0464 Hunter, 0466 Ghost, 0465 Grey and 0468 Cockroach. There is something very Gigeresque about the Feeder and the Hunter makes me think of Predator. Ghost is my favourite figure out of this range. He looks the most menacing. As for the Grey, in the N.E.W. alien bestiary, there is a race called the Greys, but I don't think this alien is one of them. I suspect he's just been called that because his dominant colour is grey. Finally, Cockroach is a good variant type Bug alien with an amazing paint job.

I must admit that when I received my set of these figures I was highly impressed with the quality of the paint jobs. Whoever painted them came up with colour schemes I wouldn't have thought of. I have yet to come up with stats for any of them but for now they'll come in useful as background figures to populate scenes like a starport bar or an arrivals/departure lounge or some cosmopolitan city.
These are all one-piece metal castings and they come with hexagonal-shaped slottabases, which I replaced with 25mm diameter circular slottabases. Each one costs £2.00, which is very reasonable in my opinion. Here's a link to their webpage - http://moonrakerminiatures.com/aliens.htm

The Raid on Sterling NPCs

I'm taking a short break from my The Ace of Spades Campaign, whilst I sort out the narrative and photos for my first ever starship combat. However, I'm still sticking with the Raid on Sterling scenario by showcasing the main NPCs that feature in it. Three of them have been seen already and the other two have been mentioned in the text.

At the far left is Mearc Sterling. Mearc is an unflappable human farmer who loves animals. He was tasked by his father to seek out a group of mercenaries to help defend his colony against bandit raiders. It was he who hired Kimberley and the crew of The Ace of Spades. This figure, which I bought many years ago, is a Spacelords Civilian and is currently available from Moonraker Miniatures, (see here - http://moonrakerminiatures.com/personalities.htm )
Next up is Royce Tavahi. Royce is a brawny human scout who distrusts outsiders almost to the point of paranoia. Royce got into trouble right from the start when he pointed a gun at Julia - bad move! He means well but too often he acts before he thinks. His figure is one of four Male Crazies and Cultists produced by Acheson Creations (see here - https://www.achesoncreations.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&view=productdetails&virtuemart_product_id=646&virtuemart_category_id=55 )
The third person who travelled with Mearc and Royce to find aid was Sheas Danelish. She is a brilliant human craftswoman who often mistakes simple courtesy for chauvinism.The figure I used for Sheas is really old, bought in the 1980's, and was made by Asgard Miniatures, sadly now long out of production.

The two figures to the right of the group have been mentioned but not met yet. Second from the right is Alfred Sterling, the leader of the Sterling Agricultural Colony and the father of Mearc. He is an inspiring human farmer who cleans his nails with his pocket knife when he is bored. Alfred is a good man who just wants to make an honest living and to be left in peace. His figure was one of the old West End Games Star Wars miniatures, also long out of production. The figure was a senator or an ambassador. I added his beard and moustache to make him look more like the illustration of Alfred Sterling in the scenario book.
Finally, is Pablo Kinte, who is expecting a delivery of silver sheets. Pablo is a massive human bar owner who is always looking for a profit. Pablo is an important person on Breuse and although nominally, a woman called Diana Lewis is the official governor of Breuse, most folk know that it is Pablo who is the true ruler. He could prove to be a useful ally to the party or a dangerous enemy. The figure of Pablo is one of my unique sculpts, made many years ago. He fit the bill perfectly for what I was looking for to represent Pablo.
I'm hoping to get back to the narrative campaign in my next post.